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Mauer has a no-trade clause and has says he doesn't want to be traded and he wants to be a catcher. Also, he's basically the only big contract the Twins have after this year, so there's no real need to trade him.

Oh, the teaser for the new Star Trek movie is out. Excuse me, my baseball geekery is not enough.

Rule V discussions aren't geeky enough for you? :)

Is it just me, or is Chris Pine the weak link in the Star Trek reboot?

I was prepared to loathe the new Spock, but Quinto did a very nice job. The guy who plays McCoy isn't doing much more than an impersonation of DeForest Kelley, but it's a damned good impersonation. Simon Pegg does fine as Scotty, and Sulu and Chekhov faded into the background as they tended to do in the original. Oh, and making Uhura a more significant character was a smart move, as was bringing Nimoy back. The plot was a bit of a mess, but it opened and ended well.

Is it just me, or is Chris Pine the weak link in the Star Trek reboot?

I was prepared to loathe the new Spock, but Quinto did a very nice job. The guy who plays McCoy isn't doing much more than an impersonation of DeForest Kelley, but it's a damned good impersonation. Simon Pegg does fine as Scotty, and Sulu and Chekhov faded into the background as they tended to do in the original. Oh, and making Uhura a more significant character was a smart move, as was bringing Nimoy back. The plot was a bit of a mess, but it opened and ended well.

Pine grates, however.

In fairness, though -- doesn't Shatner, too?

...but then, as Lassus would no doubt point out in any minute - I'm a Janeway fan, so what do I know.

Is it just me, or is Chris Pine the weak link in the Star Trek reboot?

I actually think he does an excellent job. The other characters are fairly close to their originals- as of the first movie, nothing has changed for them.

But Pine's Kirk has been raised without a father in the middle of nowhere, rather than living on different colonies with the strong influence of his father. So Pine is playing Kirk with all of the arrogance and genius but without the discipline and temper that Shatner's Kirk had. So it makes sense to me that he is more flamboyant and obnoxious, etc.

But Pine's Kirk has been raised without a father in the middle of nowhere, rather than living on different colonies with the strong influence of his father. So Pine is playing Kirk with all of the arrogance and genius but without the discipline and temper that Shatner's Kirk had. So it makes sense to me that he is more flamboyant and obnoxious, etc.

And if you notice, near the end of the first film, Pine's Kirk offers to rescue Nero from the wormhole. That's something that Shatner's Kirk would have done. Shatner's Kirk always had a high respect for his opponents, and while he would often fight dirty when he had to, he wasn't bloodthirsty, and would only resort to deadly force if it was the only option available.

And if you notice, near the end of the first film, Pine's Kirk offers to rescue Nero from the wormhole. That's something that Shatner's Kirk would have done.

I REALLY don't want to hijack this awesome thread, so I apologize; but this is where the movie's biggest character failure - or, I suppose, as it's an alternate universe, change, depending on your point of view - actually happens. After Nero refuses, Shatner's/Roddenberry's Kirk would have saved him anyhow. To be a humanitarian AND a dick, both.

I just saw the trailer as well (I didn't even realize it was coming out in 2013). What's remarkable to me is that Benedict Cumberbatch is playing the villain. It's going to be pretty weird reconciling Patrick Watts from Starter for 10 with a Star Trek villain.

It's going to be pretty weird reconciling Patrick Watts from Starter for 10 with a Star Trek villain.

For the 99% of us who've never heard of Starter for 10, it'll be easy to reconcile the villain from Atonement, the villain from The Hobbit, and the strange emotionless lead character of Sherlock with a Star Trek villain.

For the 99% of us who've never heard of Starter for 10, it'll be easy to reconcile the villain from Atonement, the villain from The Hobbit, and the strange emotionless lead character of Sherlock with a Star Trek villain.

I'd actually forgotten he was in Atonement!

As for Starter for 10, let's just say that's a 1% I feel lucky to be included in. Terrific film!

I read the book a year or so ago, and the University Challenge elements are roughly similar. The movie is built around his joining the team, and the last 15-20 minutes or so is the big televized match.

After Nero refuses, Shatner's/Roddenberry's Kirk would have saved him anyhow. To be a humanitarian AND a dick, both.

Point taken. Still, it seems like he's on the right path. You could sort of see Pine-Kirk one day becoming that man, perhaps after realizing that the families of those who perished at Nero's hand were never able to get the closure of seeing him tried and punished in a court of law.

Also, one of the complaints about the new trailer- and the past movie- is that there isn't much exploring. It's funny, because the Trek movies never really have been about exploring. I think Picard even made a joke about it in one of the TNG movies about how they should be exploring.

I read the book a year or so ago, and the University Challenge elements are roughly similar. The movie is built around his joining the team, and the last 15-20 minutes or so is the big televized match.

Might have to see how it matches to my experience then. Though it's set in Bamber Gascoigne's era rather than Paxmans I believe?

Now I'm worried about you. Shatner grates everywhere except Star Trek; Captain of the Enterprise was the one role he was born to play.

...but then, as Lassus would no doubt point out in any minute - I'm a Janeway fan, so what do I know.

Hey, who am I to speak ill of a man who likes gravel-voiced, square-jawed women who never smile?

But Pine's Kirk has been raised without a father in the middle of nowhere, rather than living on different colonies with the strong influence of his father. So Pine is playing Kirk with all of the arrogance and genius but without the discipline and temper that Shatner's Kirk had. So it makes sense to me that he is more flamboyant and obnoxious, etc.

Wait--you're telling me that the rebooted Star Trek was meant to take place in a parallel universe where Kirk's father is killed instead of leading a normal life in Iowa? I don't think that ever registered with me. I somehow retained from my childhood that Kirk had been born in Iowa, which wouldn't have been possible in the reboot, since whether the Romulan baddie showed or not, Kirk's parents were in far space at the time of his birth. I assumed that the reboot just completely rewrote the origin for the hell of it, not that a parallel universe was created specifically as the result of Romulan messing. Or am I simply more confused than even I think I am?

Shatner's Kirk always had a high respect for his opponents, and while he would often fight dirty when he had to, he wasn't bloodthirsty, and would only resort to deadly force if it was the only option available.

Wait! By the time the original films ended Kirk was more than ready to consign the entire Klingon race to the dustbin of history. He was also more than happy to see Khan join molecules with the great beyond. In any case, Shatner-Kirk would not have offered to save a villain who had just obliterated all of Vulcan. I just can't credit that. Respect a reasonably honorable foe like the Gorn captain, and not put a stone knife through his unconscious throat? Sure. But respect one of future history's great genocidal monsters? It can't be.

Kinda my point. The murdering Romulan bastards wiped out all of Vulcan. That's got to be worth one son on the universal rage scale.

Hey, I have no idea if it's any good, but apparently some fans with the assistance of a number of actors in the various series put together a film of some kind called Star Trek: Of Gods and Men. No idea what it's quality is or if everyone already knows about it. I just found it as I was poking around as a result of some posts in this thread. Apparently they snagged some sets from one of the series and off they went.